Lim Guan Eng and his gangster administration

“Lim Guan Eng is running a gangster administration. He is targeting reps who oppose him and his development policies. To him, money comes first, and everything else, later. But don’t take my word for it – Zairil himself admitted that Teh was targeted because he announced his plans to leave the DAP. As a result, the Chief Minister is waging a vendetta against everyone in Tanjung Bungah who voted Teh into the state assembly”

THE THIRD FORCE

First, it was Penanti assemblywoman, Dr. Norlela Ariffin. Then, it was Kebun Bunga rep Cheah Kah Peng. Today, it’s Tanjung Bungah assemblyman, Teh Yee Cheu. They’re all members of the Penang State Legislative Assembly. They’re all members of Penang’s ruling coalition, Pakatan Harapan. And they’re all victims of the state’s current Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng.

Yesterday, the Guan Eng led administration confirmed that Teh was barred from handing out the RM700 the state promised to victims of a deluge that wreaked havoc throughout Penang on the 4th and 5th of November 2017. Teh became the second state rep to suffer such a fate following a similar stand taken by Guan Eng on the 24th of November 2017.

On that day, the Chief Minister barred PKR’s Cheah from handing out aid following “an internal procedural change” within the state administration which he claimed was to ensure all flood victims were “comprehensively registered.” This time, however, the reason was different. According to the DAP’s Zairil Khir Johari, the decision was to ensure that all victims received the money on time.

And he had this to add:

“YB Teh has publicly announced that he would leave the DAP and go against the Pakatan Harapan state government. In fact, there was a press report quoting him as saying he would contest against PH. So this is one hostile statement that is attributed to him.”

Yes, you read right – Teh was barred from distributing aid to flood victims simply because he declared that he would contest against Pakatan Harapan come the 14th general election (GE14). Now tell me, isn’t that insanity of the highest order? I mean, what does that have to do with his current position as Tanjung Bungah rep or his determination to assist his constituents? In the first place, why should flood victims be made to suffer over internal schisms that may exist within the DAP?

Not many are aware that the “internal procedural change” the Chief Minister spoke of was never discussed at an assembly sitting. Considering that and what Zairil told newsmen yesterday, is this not a clear demonstration of how Guan Eng punishes the people of Penang just to slingshot his disapprovals across the bows of reps he does not like?

Yes, there is a lot you may not be aware of.

For instance, you may not be aware that the scale of destruction brought by the November floods was the result of greed, mismanagement and disregard for human lives on the part of the Chief Minister himself. Seriously, this guy spent nine years cutting and deforesting hillslopes to extents that radically altered the state’s topographical map. But what did he spend to draw better drainage systems and wider rivers on that map?

A meagre RM100 million, tops.

And that’s 34 times less what Singapore spent these past five years despite the Island Republic being 68.69% the size of Penang!

Now, it’s not as if the guys down south are not in the business of cutting hillslopes or even reclaiming land the way Guan Eng is. It’s just that they know how to scale development adequately to prevent major floods from wreaking havoc on the republic. But then, the kind of revenue Guan Eng’s people are collecting from developers is just too lucrative to consider scaling anything for anyone’s sake, forget the people.

Yes, by overdeveloping the state with luxury high-rises, the Chief Minister is able to milk revenue from developers thanks to the 300% increase in charges for housing development he imposed in 2015! With so much money coming in, you’d think he would have had the decency to allot a little more than RM11 million a year on mitigation works, right?

Wrong.

Not only did greed get the better of him, it became the vice that led to many other decisions that cost people their lives. The luxury high-rise development at Lengkuk Lembah Permai in Tanjung Bungah is one example. Despite the DoE’s objection, he went ahead an approved the hillslope project, which ended in tragedy when a landslide claimed the lives of a Malaysian and several foreigners. To date, we have yet to hear of the State Commission of Inquiry (SCI) he promised to call despite my repeated attempts to get an update on the matter.

Now, it is one thing that he’s preventing justice from being delivered to the families of the landslide victims, but it’s another when he prevents his own reps from delivering aid to flood victims. Tell me, who would be better capacitated to ensure all flood victims receive their aid on time if not the assemblypersons entrusted to represent them? Would the involvement of these reps not facilitate a better and more efficient means of compensation, and is this not what they were voted to do in the first place?

See where I’m going with this?

Lim Guan Eng is running a gangster administration. He is targeting reps who oppose him and his development policies. To him, money comes first, and everything else, later. But don’t take my word for it – Zairil himself admitted that Teh was targeted because he announced his plans to leave the DAP. As a result, the Chief Minister is waging a vendetta against everyone in Tanjung Bungah who voted Teh into the state assembly.

Likewise, he punished the people of Kebun Bunga simply because their rep is as principled as Teh. Then, earlier this year, he punished the residents of Kampung Sungai Lembu over Dr Norlela’s decision to put a stop to the operation of an illegal cancer-causing factory both he and Phee Boon Poh illegally benefitted from. Yes, when money stops coming Guan Eng’s way, you guys pay a heavy price.

In his books, if you’re not with him, you will be made to suffer. Full stop.